[4e] How does masterwork armor work?

[Kiyona]

Hello all,

Just a quick question. Masterwork armor costs the same as a normal armor of the same enchantment bonus, right? But, can you make a masterwork armor into a special magic armor? For instance, a sworwing armor of repulsion? How much would that cost? And at what level would the armor be?

Lots of thanks

[Totally Guy]

The total AC bonus of a piece of Armour comes from two sources. The Enhancement Bonus and the Masterwork Status.

For Plate Armour a Godplate masterwork gives a +14 and has to have a +6 Enhancement bonus. This gives a total 20 AC Bonus.

A Warplate masterwork gives a +11 and must have at least a +4 Enhancement bonus. This gives a minimum of 15 AC Bonus but it could be given a higher Enhancement Bonus.

The cost of the masterwork status is included in the cost of the magic item.

So what's the point in a +6 Warplate? It's gives a total of 17 AC Bonus and is strictly inferior to the 20AC Godplate. Yet it costs the same. I think I'll be removing this from my game. The Masterwork status will then match the Enhancement level.

I guess this is partly to make having Godplate special. And it does give a little more variety. Some masterwork statuses give a bonus to a Non AC Defence so that might be a good thing to get.

[hamishspence]

PHB 2 clarifies this- the armour is directly correlated to level. If its a Level 16 item, and its Plate armour, it Will be warplate. if its level 26, it Will be Godplate.

There is no such thing as Level 30 Warplate.

[Artanis]

The way masterwork armor works is that if the armor has a high enough enhancement bonus, then it can be made of a special material. Not only can it be made of that material, but also it will be made of it by default because the cost of the material is included in price of a magic item of that level.

For instance, +2 Scale Armor costs 1800gp and gives a base AC bonus of 7 (for a total of 7+2=9). +2 Drakescale Armor costs 1800gp and gives a base AC bonus of 8 (for a total of 8+2=10). So if you've got +2 scale-type armor, it's going to be Drakescale unless whoever gives it to you is a ****



Edit: Bah, ninja'd.

[Totally Guy]

So in conclusion a Masterwork Armour is already magical as it has to have an Enhancement bonus.

[Kiyona]

Thanks for the quick answers guys!

But can I give it properties of a magical armor with high enough enhancment bonus? If I want to make a ratshape feyleather armor, can I do that? ^^

[hamishspence]

if it was + 4 Rat Form Armour, yes (level 18 item)-

feyleather is any leather of level 16 to 20. If its lower or higher, it must be some other masterwork armour.

[Kiyona]

Oh... Now I get it.

Thanks a lot guys!

[Jothki]

What happens if you shift the enchantment from a better tier of armor onto a lower tier using the ritual that does that?

[hamishspence]

if the armour was +4, and level 18, but the transferred property would upgrade it to 21, out of Feyleather, then I guess by strict interpretation of PHB2 rules for armour types, it must metamophose into Anathema Armour.

Same if you are using Item Levels As Treasure to upgrade from +4 to +5.

Which is odd, but, thats magic for you.

[Artanis]

if the armour was +4, and level 18, but the transferred property would upgrade it to 21, out of Feyleather, then I guess by strict interpretation of PHB2 rules for armour types, it must metamophose into Anathema Armour.

Same if you are using Item Levels As Treasure to upgrade from +4 to +5.

Which is odd, but, thats magic for you.

By the "strict interpretation", I very much disagree. The PHB2 doesn't give armor rules, it gives a compilation. The rules are in the PHB, and nothing in the PHB2 modifies or contradicts the original rules in any way that I can see.

So, this means that Feyleather armor is made of Feyleather. You can put a higher-level enchantment on it if you want, and it still remains Feyleather. It doesn't transform or anything. The thing about higher-level masterwork armor is that you usually want to use better materials, and since the cost is the same, you usually do. But putting a higher enchantment on it does not change its material.

This is especially important with cloth, leather, and hide (and one instance in chain). At several points, going "up" a category gets you an extra +1 AC, but loses you a +1 to another defense. For instance, going from Drowmesh up to Feyleather gains you a point of AC at the cost of a point of REF.

The levels are the suggested for that level of material, and the enhancement bonus is the minimum and suggested for that level of material. That does not mean that armor is strictly forced to transform or has to be that material.


So, for your specific example:

If you had +4 Feyleather, and transferred a +5 enchantment onto it, it would stay +5 Feyleather. The character would probably prefer to find some Anathema to put the enchantment on, but he can and does stick with Feyleather if he or she so desires.

[hamishspence]

Main reason was that the PHB2 table gave minimum and maximum magic item levels, which neither the PHB nor adventurer's vault does.

+5 Rat Form feyleather would break the rules of the table- which state that feyleather is never less than a 16th level item and never more than a 20th level item.

I suppose you could argue that players can create items that are impossible to find normally.

[Artanis]

The type and level of magic armor determines if it can be masterwork, as detailed in the tables below

(Emphasis mine)

Note that the enhancement bonus listed corresponds to magic items of the level on the same line.

So, I see only two possible interpretations of the PHB2 table:

1) My interpretation, or
2) That at any level with masterwork armor available, you have the choice between mundane-material armor and masterwork-material armor that spontaneously changes often for the worse when you use Transfer Enchantment on it.

I'd say that mine matches what's already in the PHB1 better.



Edit: Addendum

There is more masterwork armor in AV than the PHB2 table shows. If you use Transfer Enchantment on masterwork chainmail, what material does it spontaneously transform into, forgemail or crysteel? Does upgrading Drowmesh turn it into Feyleather or Snakeskin?

[Gralamin]

if the armour was +4, and level 18, but the transferred property would upgrade it to 21, out of Feyleather, then I guess by strict interpretation of PHB2 rules for armour types, it must metamophose into Anathema Armour.

Same if you are using Item Levels As Treasure to upgrade from +4 to +5.

Which is odd, but, thats magic for you.

This is completely, completely wrong, both by RAW and according to the character builder.

[hamishspence]

Good point. So, sometimes you can create armours that (at least according to PHB 2) you shouldn't find in treasure.

+6 Plate, assuming you Transferred +6 enchantment from Hide to non-magical Plate, for example.

[Artanis]

That's right. Also note the important difference between could and should.